Madrid annihilated Levante, which renders the return match useless in terms of results. Madrid is proving it can make easy fodder of the average Spanish team, but they become the easy prey when playing Barca. It remains to be seen whether the 0-5 thrashing they got was a one-off or really mirrors the gulf in class between the two.
The news today is that Rafa expectedly got the boot from Inter. I was watching his post-match interview last week when he imposed his 3 conditions to the Club. Quite amazing he would do that really. While I have absolutely no clue what goes on behind the Club's doors, and it's hard to justify the merits of his claims, it seems that was the best strategy for him to negotiate his exit. Anyhow, he's been on a downward spiral for a few years now; I believe it started when he started ranting against Man Utd boss Fergie at this time of the season 2 years back when his Liverpool team could not pass by the Red Devils. Since then his image of being a tactical genius was replaced by that of an under-performing ranter. I actually don't know what the Kop fans actually make of their ex-manager (since he got them the Champions League), but it's pretty obvious what the Inter fans do think. While Benitez can still be considered one of the top managers in Europe, he now comes with "baggage", and that doesn't necessarily open the door to top clubs for him.
There are no racing or football matches of note today. Holidays are really kicking in and good luck to those getting their last-minute shopping done.
Merry Christmas!
ReplyDelete